TEA  PRIMER

At The CURIOSITY Shop we try to de-mystify TEA.

First, Camellia Sinensis is the plant from which all tea varities descend.  The way in which the tea is processed determines its particular category.

BLACK TEA is robust and is used as a base for many flavoured blendings.  Black tea is fully oxidized or fermented which gives it its appearance.   It is said to help with circulation.

GREEN TEA has a light taste with grassy overtones.  It is rich in antioxidants.  If the grassyness of the green tea is a problem then one might try a YELLOW TEA which has been fermented longer than the green.

OOLONG TEA (also known as WULONG tea) has a sweet and flowery taste.

PU-ERH is a complex tea that is close to black tea.  It is said to help with weight loss.

WHITE TEA is a rather exclusive tea as it is picked early and not fermented for very long.  It is very rich in antioxidants.

 

All teas are fermented or oxidized.  Black teas are oxized the most while white teas are oxized the least.  As a general rule of thumb the higher the tea is grown the better - like a

Himalayan Darjeeling.  Although this is not true of all teas.  Teas are very much like wines or coffees, the ground or earth on which they are grown add a lot to the taste of any particular variety.

 

 TEA  GRADING  NOMENCLATURE

Numerous systems exist for the grading of tea - green tea alone has three nomenclatures: one for Japanese green tea, and two for Chinese green tea (domestic and export).  'Orthodox' grading takes into account leaf size, appearance, and quality.  The following is a basic nomenclature for Whole Leaf orthodox grades (broken leaf, fannings, and dust have other codes):

 

SFTGFOP ............... Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe

FTGFOP .............................. Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe

TGFOP ........................................... Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe

GFOP ....................................................... Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe

FOP ...................................................................... Flowery Orange Pekoe

OP ...................................................................................... Orange Pekoe

FP ...................................................................................... Flowery Pekoe

P ...................................................................................................... Pekoe

PS ................................................................................... Pekoe Souchong

 

 

While this list looks intimidating - it really is just a descriptive grading system.  The SFTGFOP is a special or very fine leaf that is golden in colour and is picked from the tip of the tea tree or bush.  This is considered prenium leaf tea.  The name Orange Pekoe is a description given to all fine whole leaf teas.  As the list descends the quality goes down.  The exception is the PS (Pekoe Souchong) which refers to the third leaf from the tip it is larger and more course than the newer shoots.

 

 

The above is an illustration of Pekoe Souchong.